The present invention relates to a locking clip and, more specifically, to a locking clip to be connected to a seat belt that fastens a child car seat to a seat of a vehicle to lock the seat belt.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a child car seat 4 placed on a seat 2 of a vehicle. Generally, the child car seat 4 is fastened to the seat 2 of the vehicle by a seat belt 1 of the vehicle, as shown in FIG. 9. In FIG. 9, the seat belt 1 includes a waist belt section 1a and a shoulder belt section 1b. One end of the waist belt section 1a is secured to a position under a seat cushion 3 of the seat 2, and one end of the shoulder belt section 1b is secured to a position above a seat back of the seat 2 through a retractor, not shown. A tongue 1c is connected to the other ends of the waist belt section 1a and the shoulder belt section 1b. Referring to FIG. 9, the child car seat 4 is placed on the seat 2, the tongue 1c connected to the seat belt 1 is passed through a belt slot 6 formed in one side wall of a base 5 included in the child car seat 4 and another belt slot formed in the other side wall of the base 5 and is engaged with a buckle 7 (FIGS. 10A and 10B) disposed beside the seat cushion 3 of the seat 2. The child car seat 4 may be set on the seat 2 so that a child seated on the child car seat 4 faces either forward or rearward.
FIGS. 10A and 10B are partial sectional front elevations of the seat 2 of the vehicle and the child car seat 4 mounted on the seat 2 and fastened to the seat 2 with the seat belt 1. In FIG. 10A, the seat belt 1 is passed across the base 5 of the child car seat 2 and simply holds the child car seat 2 in place. In FIG. 10B, the seat belt 1 passed across the base 5 of the child car seat 2 is tightened by a locking clip 9. Although the tongue 1c is engaged with the buckle 7, a portion 1bxe2x80x2 of the shoulder belt section 1b of the seat belt 1 extending near the belt slot 6 is separated from the waist belt section 1a of the seat belt 1 and hence, the child car seat 4 cannot be securely held on the seat 2.
As shown in FIG. 10B, respective portions of the waist belt section 1a and the shoulder belt section 1b of the seat belt 1 fastening the child car seat 4 to the seat 2 extending near the belt slot 6 are superposed and are bound together with the locking clip 9 to fasten the child car seat 4 firmly to the seat 2 by the seat belt 1.
The locking clip 9 is, for example, a comblike plate provided with bars. The superposed portions of the waist belt section 1a and the shoulder belt section 1b are passed alternately above and below the alternate bars to hold the superposed portions of the waist belt section 1a and the shoulder belt section 1b frictionally together.
If the child car seat 4 is still loosely fastened to the seat 2, even with the superposed portions of the waist belt section 1a and the shoulder belt section 1b bound together with the comblike locking clip 9, the shoulder belt section 1b must be further pulled toward the retractor for tightening. When pulling the shoulder belt section 1b toward the retractor for tightening, a portion of the seat belt 1 extending between the bars of the comblike locking clip 9 must be released from the comblike locking clip 9, slack in the seat belt 1 must be pulled into the retractor, and the locking clip 9 must again be put on the seat belt 1, which requires troublesome work.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a locking clip that simplifies an operation of increasing the tightness of a seat belt fastening a child car seat to a seat of a vehicle to hold the child car seat securely on the seat of the vehicle.
According to the present invention, there is provided a locking clip to be attached to a portion of a seat belt having a waist belt section securely fastening a child car seat to a seat of a vehicle and a shoulder belt section, at which the waist belt section and the shoulder belt section diverge from each other. The locking clip includes a belt clamping mechanism for clamping together the waist belt section and the shoulder belt section, and a ratchet mechanism for permitting the shoulder belt section clamped by the belt clamping mechanism to be pulled only in one direction.
Thus, the seat belt fastening the child car seat to the seat of the vehicle can be further tightened simply by pulling the shoulder belt section of the seat belt toward a belt retractor to fasten the child car seat more firmly and securely to the seat of the vehicle.
Preferably, the belt clamping mechanism includes a casing, and a rotating member disposed in the casing so as to clamp the waist belt section and the shoulder belt section between the casing and the rotating member. Also, it is preferred that the ratchet mechanism includes a ratchet wheel fixedly connected to the rotating member, and a holding link biased toward the ratchet wheel so as to be engaged with the ratchet wheel to permit the ratchet wheel to rotate only in one direction. Thus, the ratchet mechanism is simple in construction, is easy to operate and operates with reliability.
Preferably, the rotating member has a circumference with an antislip shape capable of ensuring a firm grip. It is preferred that the antislip shape has a plurality of circumferentially arranged, elongate, axial ridges. Also, it is preferred that the antislip shape has a plurality of fine knobs.
Thus, the antislip shape of the circumference of the rotating member ensures a firm grip of the seat belt by the rotating member and ensures the effect of the ratchet mechanism.
Preferably, the ratchet mechanism includes a ratchet wheel fixedly connected to the rotating member, and a pair of holding links biased toward the ratchet wheel so as to be engaged with the ratchet wheel to permit the ratchet wheel to rotate only in one direction. One of the hold links permits the ratchet wheel to rotate in a direction and the other hold link permits the ratchet wheel to rotate in a direction opposite the former. The ratchet mechanism also includes a selector lever capable of being turned from a neutral position to a first position to disengage one of the holding links from the ratchet wheel and also capable of being turned from the neutral position to a second position to disengage the other holding link from the ratchet wheel.
Since the rotating direction of the ratchet wheel can be selectively determined, the child car seat can be fastened to either the right or the left seat of the vehicle.
According to the present invention, the ratchet mechanism may include a base, and a pressing member extended parallel to the base so as to clamp the waist belt section and the shoulder belt section between the base and the pressing member. Preferably, the ratchet mechanism includes a toothed cam shaft supported for turning on the pressing member and biased toward the base so as to engage teeth of the toothed cam shaft with the shoulder belt section clamped in between the base and the pressing member to permit the shoulder belt section to move only in one direction.
Preferably, the ratchet mechanism further includes a locking member for restraining the toothed cam shaft from turning. It is preferred that the toothed cam shaft is provided with two grooves differing from each other in width, the toothed cam shaft being able to turn when the locking member is inserted in one of the grooves, and the toothed cam shaft being unable to turn when the locking member is inserted in the other groove. Thus, the seat belt can be surely locked after being pulled for tightening.
Preferably, the ratchet mechanism is provided with a guide roller spaced a predetermined distance in the direction of travel of the seat belt from the toothed cam shaft to guide at least the shoulder belt section in its moving direction.
Since the shoulder belt section can be pulled in parallel to the base, the toothed cam shaft can be positively engaged with and disengaged from the shoulder belt section, and the tightness of the seat belt can be easily increased.